(Angus Reid Global Monitor) – A new poll suggests that Spain’s opposition conservative Popular Party (PP) would defeat the governing Socialist Workers’ Party (PSOE) in the next general election. In addition, the PP has found strength in areas of the European country that have historically voted left, including five autonomous communities where it currently sits in opposition.
(Angus Reid Global Monitor) – A new poll suggests that Spain’s opposition conservative Popular Party (PP) would defeat the governing Socialist Workers’ Party (PSOE) in the next general election. In addition, the PP has found strength in areas of the European country that have historically voted left, including five autonomous communities where it currently sits in opposition.
Spain’s left-leaning government is in deep trouble over the sorry state of the economy, with the PSOE’s popularity and that of its leader, José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero, at a low point. The survey shows that the PP would secure 45.6 per cent of the vote in the next legislative election, a 10-point lead over the PSOE. At this point, PSOE appears to have lost the support of one-in-six of the voters it had in the 2008 election, a drop that would certainly amount to a defeat in a political system dominated by two main parties.
At the local level, the PP stands to win absolute majorities in many of Spain’s 17 autonomous communities, including the PSOE strongholds of Extremadura and Castilla-La Mancha. The numbers show that the PSOE would require a big surge in support not only at the national level, but also to retain control of the local legislatures.
Spain’s unemployment rate, at almost 20 per cent, is the highest in the European Union (EU) after Latvia’s. The country was greatly affected by the financial meltdown triggered by the collapse of the American housing market, and suffered its own real-estate-bubble burst at the end of 2008.
PP leader Mariano Rajoy and his party have been proactive in reaching out to new voters while the PSOE’s strength vanishes. Their strategy has paid off. The Spanish economy is in shambles, and Zapatero has been at the helm during the unravelling disaster. Moreover, the sitting government is implementing unpopular shock measures to stop the bleeding, which has only led to more public condemnation.
Unless a miraculous rebound happens, Rajoy—who had been written off after losing two consecutive elections to Zapatero—will become President of the Government in 2012.
